Whenever people ask me about China, I inevitably bring up Shanghai. It’s so incredibly huge and cosmopolitan. The only fair comparison in the US is New York. New York is more culturally diverse because so many ethnicities have established themselves there over the last 150 years, but Shanghai is more impressive physically because of all the tall buildings. And the boom is just beginning, according to the New York Times:
This year alone, Shanghai will complete more towers with space for living and working than there is space in all the office buildings in New York City.
If you’re the kind of person who likes big cities, go visit Shanghai now. Though it impresses on a scale similar to New York, it’s still very cheap (like everything else in China). As an example, you can take a cab across the city for just five dollars or so. Something tells me those prices won’t survive the 2008 Olympics.
Hat tip: Shanghaist